When things go south forvideo gameprotagonists, it’s the power of plot armor that saves them from dying, often bringing them back from the dead.
While this particular narrative device can be downright annoying to some, it provides an underlying reason for their immeasurable strength and unbelievable endurance.
More importantly, it justifies their high survival rate and sets the stage for some nail-biting,death-defying scenarios.
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These sidekicks may play second fiddle, but when the chips are down, they can step up as well as anyone.
These characters constantly push the boundaries of the narrative, making the players anticipate their victory.
In this list,every featured main character is supercharged with indestructible plot armor, protecting them from all odds and ensuring they always make it to the end.
Here are the most unstoppable protagonists who refuse to stay down and treat death like a minor inconvenience, ranked according to their plot armor.
10Masterchief
Too Lucky Or Too Precise?
Halo Infinite
When it comes to escaping near-impossible situations, you’re able to count on Master Chief or John-117 from theHaloseries to always make the right calls.
Master Chief possesses a stroke of exceptional luck, canonically acknowledged by characters like Cortana and Halsey throughout theHalo universe. This is often blown out of proportion to justify his survival against all the odds.
Admittedly,surviving the fall from orbit can be a stretch for your regular guy.His unwavering determination andsilent charismamake it believable.
However, there is no denying that the Chief’s feats are backed by the calculated risks he takes, perfectly masking the widely accepted plot armor.
Whether it’s luck or him forging his luck through his tactical mastermind, we can all agree that the Chief is built differently.
9Lara Croft
Being An Archeologist Isn’t Hard
Rise of the Tomb Raider
Lara Croft in the modernTomb Raidergames wears one of the thickest plot armors. No, I am not talking about her tank top.
She is the ultimate damage sponge and tank, who has survived a plethora of ordeals, including brutal wounds, infections, and impalements.
While there are many instances where Lady Lara sees her enemies die from great heights, she is too iconic to be killed off from such heights.
The lore of Tomb Raider explains this with her diverse skillset, high intelligence, and durability, which is higher than Olympic-level athletes.
Refusing to die, she consistently stands her ground against thecreepiest enemies, ranging from mercenaries to supernatural beings and beyond.
What surprises me is her instantaneous recovery and no signs of permanent damage after subsequent fatal injuries, which would have killed a normal human.
8William “BJ” Blazkowicz
Surviving Out Of Spite
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
The amount of plot armor William Blazkowicz fromWolfensteinhas is nothing short of absurd.This man survives grenades to his stomach, burns, nukes, and shrapnel to his skull.
Despite what timeline it is, there is nothing that stands in his way of killing Nazis. His deep-seated hatred and rage against the fascists is what keeps him going.
Interestingly, after waking up from a 14-year coma, he manages to obliterate the entire squad of Nazis while being strapped into a wheelchair. Meanwhile, yourregular protagonistmight require more time to recover their muscular build.
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Speaking of which, inWolfestein II: New Colossus, Blazkowicz even survived after he was beheaded publicly since his head was attached to a Nazi supersoldier’s body to resurrect him.
Dying countless timesand surviving is one thing, but immediately getting buffed after such a death? That’s not luck; it’s pure, unfiltered plot armor.
7Leon Kennedy
Style Over Logic
Resident Evil 4
Leon Kennedy’s adrenaline-pumped survival has often defied death throughout everyResident Eviltitle he is in. For a human with no superpowers, he walks from the near-death encounters because the plot demands it.
For that alone, he is spared from brutal damage and conveniently buffed during fights, followed by hisiconic dialogues. Rather than paying expensive medical bills,this protagonist challenges chainsaw-wielding enemies using a small knife or a pistol.
Give this man a first-aid med or spray, and he’s ready to effortlessly backflip.
I believe he could have deactivated the laser beams in the hallway or taken another route inResident Evil 4.
Yet, he backflipped his way out of the laser beams like John Wick in a slow-motion montage and sat on the throne with style, proving he isn’t your usual video game protagonist.
6Doomslayer
Freddy Krueger For Demons
This protagonist is more of a preference, but honestly, it’s impossible to explore Doomslayer’s legendary lore without accepting his iron-clad plot armor. He is an absolute beast inevery gameand doesn’t seem to age,confusing many playersdue to his face.
While it isn’t confirmed that he is immortal in theDoomgames, he has canonically spent eons fighting endless demons without requiring food or sleep, so the answer is pretty obvious.
From the codex, it is clear thatthe demons are scared of Slayer as he has always proved to be a recurring, indomitable forceagainst them.
Diving into his origins inDoom: Dark Ages, the roster of the strongest demons in hell couldn’t defeat this sole man for thousands of years.
Ultimately, all they could do was trick and lure him into the Blood Temple to seal him for an indefinite time.
Too Angry To Stay Dead
Asura’s Wrath
Asura has climbed his way out of death as often as the narrative ofAsura’s Wrathallowed him to, even if it was 12,000 or 500 years later.
He goes on a relentless rampage, bent on taking revenge on the seven gods who framed him and kidnapped his daughter, unleashing divine fury.
This rage makes him surpass the game’s power scaling and characters, surprising you each time he takes down all the cosmic deities.
As the sole driving force of the narrative, I was convinced that the story wouldn’t let him die unless heeliminated every godwho made his daughter cry.
Though his rage is woven into plot armor, the game wouldn’t have been half as unforgettable and fantastic if it weren’t for Asura at its center.
God of Anger Management Issues
God of War
If you have played the older games in theGod of Warseries, you know thatyoung Kratos had the plot armor invincibility to take down the Greek pantheon. Over the entire franchise, he has laid waste to thestrongest gods.
Even with his suppressed anger inGod of War (2018), he is reluctantly able to take down the Norse gods.
Although his rage-fueled journey has resulted in him canonicallydying several times, the plot always brings him back from the clutches of death.
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Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
When Thor defeats Kratos in the opening sequence ofGod of War: Ragnarök, aquick-time eventoccurs, restarting Kratos' heart and resurrecting him in a moment.
There is no chance death could have him unless he accepts that he has earned it, or, to summarize it: whenever the writers decide to.
Although he is currentlyprophesied to diein the arms of his son, Atreus, I don’t think we will be seeing that in another decade.
3Nathan Drake
The Luckiest Man Alive
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
Fextralife Wiki
Despite the plethora of hardships and enemies, Nathan Drake from theUnchartedseries effortlessly breaks all the rules of life and death with his happy-go-lucky attitude.
Honestly, I think the only reason Nate spouts hisfunny one-linersis that he is well aware of the plot armor, which is his endless luck.
When he is surrounded by infinite rounds of ammunition, you may mistake the in-game red indicator or health bar to highlight the damage he endures.
However, it was confirmed by the animatorJonathan Cooperand game directorAmy Hennigto be a luck meter, indicating his luck and canonically explaining how he remains unscathed.
For me, it wasone of the most brilliant uses of plot armor in a video game, considering the only time he gets shot is when his fortune runs out.
2Ellie Williams
Pain And Suffering Personified
The Last of Us Part 2
Ellie fromThe Last of Usseries is one of the most tragic characters, suffering from the weight of survivors' guilt, loss, and depression.
Her immunity to the Cordyceps infection is a narrative shield that protects her throughout both games. Ellie fights different types of Infected andswarming mobs of enemieslike a piece of cake.
Nevertheless, she isn’t immune to the cruelty of the world, the unforgiving injuries, the bite marks, and the emotional scars that never heal.
After witnessing Joel’s death by Abby and her crew, she was bent on payback inTLOU Part 2. However, in the end, she ends up losing more than Abby.
Compared to other entries in the list, her plot armor doesn’t feel like a gift. Instead, this insane amount of narrative convenience feels like the writers' deliberate choice to break our hearts.
The Cameraman Never Dies
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
What more plot armor can you possibly attain when you are the storyteller?The Prince takes the crown in the list for narrating all his youthful endeavors to an unseen listenerthroughout thePrince of Persiatrilogy.
Each time you die in-game throughPoP: Sands of Time, he recalls that’s not the way it happened and starts again.
On top of that, the unnamed Prince is equipped with the Dagger of Time throughout the series, which you can use to rewind or slow down time.
Given that the first title was released more than two decades ago, the writers atUbisoftgenuinely cooked with unique storytelling, perfectly establishing the plot armor.
Beyond that, I genuinely enjoyed the unnamed Prince’s distinct personality and character development over the entire series, fromSands of TimetoTwo Thrones.
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